Bible Reading (Philippians 3:7-14)
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Thought
We seem to have a great number of road works taking place around our villages at the moment. Before any of these started large yellow signs appeared by the side of the roads giving advance warning of the disruption that was going to take place. It was not always easy to read the whole of the information on these signs as you drove past in your car, as up to six different dates were mentioned and two different times when the road was to be closed.
However, when I set off to do my weekly shop a couple of weeks ago I was fairly confident that my return journey was not going to be as straightforward as it usually is, as I was anticipating one of the roads to be shut by the time I was travelling home. So on leaving the shop I set off home using a different route happy that my planning would have allowed me a relatively easy route home. What I had not anticipated was that more roads would be closed than I had expected. I found myself having to turn my car around and return back part of the way I had come. A diversion had been put in place which I followed. It took me somewhat out of my way and just when I thought I was finally heading back in the right direction I found that the road I was now on had been recently resurfaced and I was now restricted to driving at 20mph or risk the car skidding. By the time I finally got home the journey had taken me well over twice the usual time.
What I did know was where I was going. My journey had a fixed ending, I knew that I was going home and that when I got there my lovely husband would make me a nice hot drink and all would be well.
As Christians we are all on a journey. Our journey is to heaven. As Paul says in his letter to the Philippians, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”. On the way we might feel like we are faced with signs saying ‘Road Ahead Closed’, or we might be sent out of our way on a diversion, or when we finally feel we are getting somewhere we are slowed down by other events. But the end of our journey is guaranteed for us, we will all get to heaven someday. The journey may be a difficult one, and at points we might not know where we are going, but if we put our faith in Christ then we have nothing to fear.
Prayer
Jesus Christ, we thank you that our future is secure with you. Be with us as we travel this journey, be our guide and our helper.
Amen
Song: One Day (When we all get to Heaven) Matt Redman
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